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The Netherlands Enterprise Agency RVO.nl administers since the beginning of 2016 a subsidy scheme for residential solar water heater systems as well as solar combi systems (hot water and space heating) with currently EUR 100 million EUR annually.

Energie is one of the largest live events in the Netherlands on energy-saving technology and sustainable energy. Whether it concerns a specific improvement or an integral approach, from reducing energy consumption to stricter purchasing policies, Energie is the place to be. With a broad and varied program and attention for innovation, the fair has gained an unmistakable status. 2018’s edition will take place in Den Bosch from 9 to 11 October.

In the Netherlands, a feed in tariff is paid for solar thermal plants with a capacity of 140 kWth or above. In the case of solar heat, the tariff was 9.5 EURct/kWh during the application period in spring and autumn 2017. However, the incentives are only meant to bridge the gap between market and production price, not to pay for all costs associated with renewable energy generation. A “correction amount” is applied to take into account the market price of the energy produced. It was set to 2.9 EUR cent/kWh of solar heat in spring 2017 and will be adjusted if the situation on the market changes so that solar thermal investers receive 6.6 EURct/kWh. The subsidy is paid over no more than 15 years.

Facades of residential and tertiary buildings offer enough space for daylight control and HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) systems. Active envelope solutions include facade-integrated solar thermal collectors, PV panels, daylight control systems or panels containing ventilation units with heat recovery and/or a heat pump with all necessary connectors. Optimising their performance and building integration has been one of the main objectives of an international research programme called Building Integrated Solar Envelope Systems for HVAC and Lighting, also known as Task 56 of the IEA Solar Heating and Cooling Programme. The photo shows the around 20 task experts who met at Eindhoven University of Technology, Netherlands, on 21–22 September.

The 41st Annual IAEE International Conference will be held from 10 to 13 June 2018 in Groningen, Netherlands. The IAEE international conference is a four-day conference on energy business, markets and policy. Over 500 international particpants are expected to attend from all over the world. Conference participants include academics, policy makers, consultants, and representatives from energy businesses.

The one presenting Dutch-based BDR Thermea’s solar heating solutions at the Solar Show Africa 2017 in late March in South Africa was Fabrisolia, the new solar thermal centre of excellence created by the company group. It consists of a factory for collector panel assembly and a solar thermal R&D centre and is located in Castellbisbal near Barcelona. BDR Thermea employs around 6,500 people and operates on more than 70 national markets around the globe. The group pursues a multi-brand approach, with several brands for solar thermal systems: Baxi, Baymak, Brötje, De Dietrich, Oertli and Remeha.

Inventors and start-ups have been trying to combine photovoltaic and solar thermal collectors into one product for many years. Finally, a new industry seems to be emerging. The IEA SHC task Application of PVT collectors and new solutions with PVT systems, which is currently being defined, intends to become the go-to platform for the young technology. It is scheduled for approval by the IEA SHC executive committee in November 2017 and is planned to start in January 2018. The first Task Definition Meeting in Zurich, Switzerland, in May attracted great interest from the industry.

In the Netherlands, solar district heating plants with a capacity of 140 kWth or above can benefit from a feed-in tariff scheme called SDE+, which pays a certain amount per kWh of energy. Under the scheme, operators of renewable energy plants can apply for a subsidy to bridge the gap between market price and cost of energy production. Consequently, interest was high when a workshop about solar district heating (SDH) took place in mid-April 2017. It attracted around 50 people from the district heating and the solar thermal industry, consulting businesses and the government. Organised jointly by Dutch district heating organisation Warmtenetwerk, Holland Solar and the Netherlands Enterprise Agency, RVO.nl, the workshop featured a presentation on SDH in Denmark – held by Jan Erik Nielsen from PlanEnergi and based on results from Task 45 and 55 of the IEA Solar Heating and Cooling Programme – and provided information about the national subsidy scheme, thermal storage technologies as well as the only DH plant in operation in the Netherlands to date.

The biggest challenge for a small market like the solar cooling one – which has still a long way to go – is how to reduce system costs. One way to achieve this objective besides increasing market volume is standardisation. Companies from around the globe have responded to the challenge by developing pre-engineered solar cooling kits. To provide a better overview of the innovative technologies in this field, the researchers of IEA SHC Task 53, New Generation Solar Cooling and Heating Systems, collected technical data on 10 small to medium solar cooling units and published them in table form (see the attached document). The list includes market-ready as well as close-to-market solutions.

Energie is one of the largest live events in the Netherlands on energy-saving technology and sustainable energy. Whether it concerns a specific improvement or an integral approach, from reducing energy consumption to stricter purchasing policies, Energie is the place to be. With a broad and varied program and attention for innovation, the fair has gained an unmistakable status. 2017’s edition will take place in Den Bosch from 10 to 12 October.